LAHORE, May 5: The Pakistan Flour Mills Association (PFMA) on Wednesday announced stopping of flour supplies to the NWFP for four days to show solidarity with the millers there.

In a press statement, the association said mills of the NWFP have been seeking permission to purchase wheat from the Punjab which has been turned down. "In order to show solidarity with them, the millers from the Punjab have decided to stop sending flour to the province so that the Punjab government could be forced to review its decision."

The PFMA gave a 24-hour deadline to the food department to either allow its members to purchase wheat according to agreement or they would go observe strike on Monday. It pointed out two incidents in which mills trucks were intercepted by the food department employees.

Seventy truckloads of wheat from Okara were impounded by the DFC concerned in the first incident, and Faisalabad DFC refused to issue permits to mills for its procurement in the other.

It said the rate of wheat had also gone up to Rs380 in open market and if the trend continued for another day or two, the millers would be forced to increase price of flour.